Innis, Novak power CL South by Bartlett
Nothing beats topping last year just nine matches into the boys soccer season.
Crystal Lake South's Jordan Innis scored 10 goals and assisted on four others as a sophomore in 2006, but those numbers will pale in comparison to his 2007 totals if he and his teammates continue playing like they did Monday night at Millennium Field.
On the strength of Innis' 11th and 12th goals of the season, CL South blanked Bartlett 2-0 in a steady rain on the opening night of the round-robin Bartlett Invitational.
The Gators possessed the ball long enough at midfield to spot junior forwards Kevin Novak and Innis streaking.
Novak twice freed Innis for long runs with insightful feeds, both of which led directly to goals for CL South (6-2-1).
Less than four minutes into the match, Novak turned on a ball at midfield and sent it skipping along the wet FieldTurf toward Innis, who was marked from the side.
But Innis turned first and the last Bartlett defender was beaten by a step. Innis charged unabated through the box and blasted a right-footed shot short side that beat the Bartlett goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.
"That was a beautiful ball," said Innis of Novak's feed. "I had (the defender) on my hip and saw the near side open, so I just stuck it in there."
Said Bartlett coach Steven Buchs: "Defensively, yeah, we've made mistakes and we've been able to make it up. Tonight, we weren't able to make it back up and it hurts a little bit. It's not how we wanted to start off our tournament."
Innis and Novak, who have played soccer together since they were 10 years old, would connect again later.
With 23 minutes left in the match, Novak sent a long feed up the middle of the pitch beyond Innis, and the race was on between he and Bartlett goalkeeper Vince DiNuzzo.
DiNuzzo slid on the wet turf at the corner of the box, but he couldn't corral the ball as Innis slid in at the same time and the two collided. The ball popped away, behind DiNuzzo. Innis recovered first and sent South's second goal of the night into an empty net.
"I saw the goalie coming out hard, so I went in for the tackle and he got me in the wrist," Innis said. "It's all bruised up. But I saw the ball open, so I just put it in the net."
Bartlett (2-2-1) was able to put just 5 shots on CL South keeper Zach Dalzell. It was the fifth shutout of the season for the Gators, the fourth for Dalzell.
Gators coach Brian Allen liked what he saw from his team, which limited Bartlett to 4 shots on goal.
"The runs were all there, the work ethic was there," Allen said. "I was very pleased with what I saw top to bottom."